Partnership

Renault Group & Hardis Group partnership

To accelerate Renault Group digitization of its global supply chain

Hardis Group, a consulting firm, digital services company and independent software vendor, announces a joint innovation partnership with Renault to digitize the car manufacturer’s logistics processes. The agreement is a major milestone in the deployment of Hardis Group’s strategic plan, as the firm looks to harness connected devices, cloud platforms and AI solutions to accelerate the digital transformation of its manufacturing and logistics clients.

Digital Transformation

Modernize Renault Group factories

Renault has been introducing new digital technologies at its plants in recent years, and has embarked on a drive to modernize its IT system. Now, in 2018, the manufacturer has teamed up with Hardis Group to roll out a joint innovation and digitization program across its entire global supply chain. As part of the agreement, Renault has opted for Hardis Group's Reflex WMS warehouse and factory logistics management system and is currently deploying the solution at its MCA Maubeuge plant, where it trials all new digital technologies. Renault has also deployed Hardis Group’s inventory-taking drone solution, Eyesee, which was presented to French President Emmanuel Macron and Renault Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn when they visited the Maubeuge plant on Thursday, November 8, 2018.

About Groupe Renault

Groupe Renault, which has been making cars since 1898, is now an international corporation with a presence in 134 countries and sales of 3.76 million vehicles in 2017. Today, the company has over 180,000 employees, 36 manufacturing sites and 12,700 sales outlets worldwide. To meet the major technological challenges of the future while continuing to pursue its profitable growth strategy, Groupe Renault is focusing on international expansion. To this end, it is drawing on the synergies of its five brands (Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine and LADA), electric vehicles, and its unique alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. With a 100% Renault owned team committed to the Formula 1 World Championship since 2016, the brand is involved in motorsport, a real vector of innovation and awareness.

Eyesee will be tested in FM Logistic warehouses to: see how well the solution designed in the lab translates to real life in the warehouse so it can be fine-tuned to meet logistics providers' requirements as closely as possible; measure the benefits in productivity, safety and quality in a real-life situation.

A fully autonomous industrial drone

Aware of the logistics-related opportunities offered by the physical and technical characteristics of drones, Hardis Group filed a patent in 2015 for an inventory-taking drone to automate inventories and simplify and optimize inventory management in warehouses.

The drone is equipped with sensors, enabling it to move around the warehouse autonomously, controlled by an operator. Its on-board camera identifies and captures inventory data which can be transmitted to any WMS on the market. The aim is to save time and increase productivity and safety in inventory and stock control operations.

Real-life testing with FM Logistic

Hardis Group recently signed an agreement with FM Logistic to test the solution at its logistics sites to check the system’s ability to meet the sector’s requirements. Innovation, which drives productivity, performance and flexibility, is a key value for FM Logistic, which has a committee of international experts dedicated to it. The aim is to imagine, design and deploy innovative solutions to improve working conditions for its employees and quality of service to its customers. So it was no surprise that the company agreed to get involved with the inventory-taking drone project.

FM Logistic opened up its warehouse in Satolas (France) to Hardis Group teams to conduct tests relating to flight conditions (site mapping, geolocation, lighting configurations, surfaces encountered by the drone, etc.) and the collection of information required for inventory-taking (label reading for example). In September, FM Logistic business teams will start testing the drone and the collection and processing of information by their tools.

Testing with FM Logistic will continue until the end of 2016.

About FM Logistic

Since its creation in 1967, FM Logistic has become an international leader in warehousing, transport and packaging. The independent family-run group is recognized as an expert in FMCG, distribution, perfume/beauty, industry and health markets.

Present in Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Western Europe and Latin America with over 20,000 employees, FM Logistic has a turnover of over a billion euros.

In addition to its international expansion, FM Logistic’s development is focused on a strong policy of innovation, while respecting the environment. The group has pioneered ‘pooling’ (shared management of transport and logistics resources), for which it has received numerous professional awards.

Environmentally responsible by design, FM Logistic is a member of the Green Freight Europe program, an initiative aimed at improving the environmental performance of freight transport in Europe.

In 2015, the company developed CityLogin, an environmentally friendly solution to address logistics requirements for the final part of the journey in European cities.

About Squadrone System

The Squadrone System team, created in 2013, launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Hexo+ project, a fully autonomous drone that follows and films the user, raising over 1.3 million dollars. In a year, the company has transitioned from concept to reality and now has over 3000 users throughout the world. Based in Grenoble, France, and San Francisco, California, Squadrone System is conquering the industrial market with its autonomous indoor and outdoor flight technologies.